Housed draft gear with inbuilt plunger



May 30, 1961 R. E. BLAKx-:LY

HOUSED DRAFT GEAR WITH INBUILT PLUNGER Filed July 20, 1959 Inventor:

United States Patent C HoUsED DRAFT GEAR WITH INBUILT PLUNGER Robert E. Blakely, Depew, N.Y., assigner to Symington Wayne Corporation, Salisbury, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed July zo, 1959, ser. No. 828,248

7 claims. (ci. 213-30) This invention relates to railway draft gears and has for its primary object the provision of a housed draft gear which is an improvement of the cushioning mechanism disclosed in Emil H. Blattner Patent No. 2,540,041, issued January 30, 1951.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved housed draft gear having an inbuilt plunger, the housing and plunger of which are of such construction and arrangement that the plunger can be applied and removed with a minimum of angling, correspondingly reducing the lateral play and wear between the plunger and the housing.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improved housed draft gear having an inbuilt plunger within the housing and plunger are so constructed and arranged as to inhibit failure of the means by which the plunger is locked in assembled relation in the housing.

A further object of the invention is to provide an irnproved housed draft gear having an inbuilt plunger wherein the plunger is held in assembled relation in the housing by normally spaced interlocking means fixed to the housing `and plunger, at least one of which, carried by the plunger, is applicable -or removable in the plungers assembled position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter in the detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appended claims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view taken along the lines 1-1 of Figure 2 of a preferred embodiment of the draft gear of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the draft gear of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the front portion of the draft gear of the preceding figures; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view in the plane of the sectioned portion of Figure l with the wedges retracted by temporary retainers to facilitate installation of the gear.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts, the improved draft gear of the present invention is intended for the usual installation in a draft gear pocket in center sills (not shown) of a railway vehicle (not shown) for cushioning bufling and draft forces transmitted to the gear through a coupler (not shown).

Similar in a number of respects to the cushioning mechanism of Blattner Patent No. 2,540,041, the draft gear of this invention has ya friction housing, barrel or casing 1 open at one end 2 and having as its longitudinal or longitudinally extending walls a pair of vertically spaced top and bottom walls 3 and a pair of horizontally spaced side Walls 4 connecting the top and bottom walls at the sides, the several longitudinal walls being connected at the opposite end of the housing by anl integral, vertically extending end wall 5.

Contained or confined longitudinally and at one end Patented May 30,` 1961 ICC by the longitudinal walls 3 and 4 and the end wall 5, and with the housing 1 ordinarily disposed in installed position, so that its open end 2 is its front end, the housings hollow interior or central cavity is divided longitudinally into a rear pocket or compartment 7 serating or containing a coil spring, rubber or other suitable resilient or spring unit 8 and a front pocket or compartment 9 within which is seated or contained a friction unit 10. A coil spring unit in the illustrated embodiment, the rear resilient unit reacts against the end or rear wall 5 of the housing 1 and through an interposed or intervening lioating follower 1,1 to urge the friction unit 10 forwardly toward the front opening or mouth 12 of the cavity 6 in the housing.

As in the Blattner patent, the friction unit 10 of the illustrated embodiment is comprised of a pair of counterpart friction wedges or shoes 13 urged apart or oppositely into engagement with opposite longitudinal walls of the housing 1, here the side walls 4, by opposed packs or sets of semi-elliptic leaf springs 14 and each of the wedges has a pair of stepped, substantially planar, correspondingly inclined or sloping friction faces 15 frictionally engaging a corresponding pair of friction surfaces 16 formed on the confronting longitudinal or side wall 4. Flaring or fdiverging outwardly from their counterparts on the opposite side wall 4 toward the mouth 12 of the housing, the friction surfaces 16 of each pair are connected by an instanding shoulder 17 which is adapted to be and normally is engaged by an outstanding shoulder 18 connecting the confronting pair of friction faces 15 on the adjoining shoe 13 for limiting forward movement of the shoes relative to the housing 1 under force of the resilient unit 8. Also, in accordance with the patent, the friction shoes 13 having substantially flat, transversely extending rear ends 19 which bear and, on inward movement of the shoes, rub against the front face 20 of the floating follower 11 and are flattened at their front ends Z1 to rub, under like conditions, against the rear face 22 of an inbuilt plunger or front followerV 23 which projects or extends into the hollow interior 6 of the housing 1 through its mouth 12, However, it is here that the resemblance between the cushioning mechanism of that patent and the draft gear of this invention ends.

In line with the usual practice in housed draft gears having inbuilt plungers, the cushioning mechanismv of the Blattner patent has its plunger held in assembled relation in its housing by retaining means integral with the housing and overlapping and normally engaged by portions of the plunger. vantages not only of requiring considerable lateral play between the housing and the plunger to enable the latter to be canted or angled to the extent necessary for insertion into the housing, but of subjecting the retaining means to hammering by the plunger each time the components return to normal position after compression of the mechanism under a buiiing or draft force.

The above disadvantages of the Blattner mechanism are avoided in the draft gear of this invention by interlocking the plunger 23 to the housing 1 in such manner that the plunger can be inserted into the mouth V12 of the housing with a minimum of canting and is spaced from and held out of contact with the retaining means` into the mouth 12 from and yconveniently centered onv and fixed to or rigid or integral with one of a pair of op-l posite longitudinal walls of the housing, here the side walls 4, and, yas the cooperating means on they plunger 23, stop means which are normally spaced rearwardly of This construction has the disadi the retaining lugs 24 and at least one of which is removable and designed to be applied or removed when the plunger is in inserted or assembled position. In the case of the illustrated generally box-shaped plunger 23, the retaining lugs 24 ride in slots or grooves 25 in the confronting sides of the plunger and of sufficient longitudinal extent, as by opening the slots onto the front end 26 of the plunger, to accommodate the range of longitudinal movement of the plunger relative to the housing 1 under bung and draft forces.

At least one or, if desired, each of the slots 25, to pass the associated or related retaining lug 24 on insertion and removal of the plunger 23, extends longitudinally through the plunger from front to rear. Although thus open when desired to pass the related lug 24, each such slot 25 is adapted to be and normally is blocked rearwardly of its retaining lug 24 by removable stop means. In the illustrated embodiment, one of the slots 25 is permanently blocked at the rear by an outstanding or laterally extending abutment or shoulder 27 carried by and rigid or integral with the plunger 23 and overlapped laterally or transversely by the related retaining lug 24. The other of the Slots 25 is interrupted and partially blocked by an outstanding or laterally extending abutment or shoulder 28 integral with the plunger. While this second abutment 28 terminates at or inside the inner lateral extremity of the related stop lug 24 so as not to be overlapped laterally by the lug, it forms a convenient base for mounting or carrying a removable, preferably flat retainer or stop plate 29 which blocks the slot 25 rearwardly of and is overlapped by the Vlug and serves with the first abutment 27 as the stop means on the plunger which cooperate with the lugs on the housing for locking the plunger in assembled relation.

Removably fixed or secured to or made rigid with the plunger 23, conveniently by providing it with an aperture 30 through which it is welded to the second abutment 28, the front face or surface 31 of the plate 29, along with the front face 32 of each abutment, is normally spaced rearwardly of the rear face 33 of the related retaining lug 24. Such spacing, substantially equal in the case of the irst abutment 27 and plate 29, and the consequent permissible longitudinal play between the plunger 23 and the housing 1, after assembly but before installation of the draft gear, is achieved without increasing the over-all length of the draft gear or weakening the lugs and abutments by beveling the lugs and abutments so that the several rear faces 33 and front faces 32 incline or slope inwardly and forwardly at a corresponding angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the housing. Thus, each of the lugs and abutments is of substantially triangular cross-section with maximum thickness at its base and tapering therefrom toward its outer extremity.

Not only does the normal spacing between the parallel confronting faces of the stop means 27 and 29 and the retaining lugs 24 inhibit breakage of the lugs in service, but the applicability and removability of the retainer plate 29 when the plunger 23 is in its inserted position in the housing 1 minimizes the canting required to insert and remove the plunger. It therefore is possible to have but slight clearance or tolerance between the plunger and the front portion 34 of the housing in which it seats, both at top and `bottom between the inner faces 35 of the top and bottom walls 3 and the confronting faces 36 of the plunger and at the sides between the inner faces 37 of the side walls 4 and the Vconfronting faces 38 of the plunger at either side of the lugs 24, with consequent reduction in lateral play and resultant wear between the plunger and the housing.

In assembling the draft gear, the several housed components will be inserted in sequence into the housing 1 through its mouth 12, with the welding of the retainer plate 29 to the plunger 23 the final step to hold the plunger in assembled relation. As shown in Figure 1,

the plunger 23, in the normal or installed condition of the draft gear, will project forwardly of the housing and ordinarily bear against a front follower, indicated at 39, which in turn will bear against front stop lugs (not shown) fixed to the center sills (not shown) and so hold the plunger in its normal position with its stop means 27 and 29 spaced rearwardly of the retaining lugs 24 on the housing. Since lthe draft gear then will fit tightly in the draft gear pocket in the center sills with its spring unit 8 and spring packs 14 under initial or precompression, it is desirable to facilitate installation to further depress the draft gear, usually incident to initial assembly, and to hold such further compression until after the gear has been installed. This is readily accomplished in the illustrated gear by the use of temporary retainer blocks 40 inserted on such further compression between the confronting shoulders 17 and 18 on the shoes and housing and removed after installation of the gear, the blocks being insertible through suitable openings 41 in the side walls of the housing and, after a few service blows, disintegrating and dropping out through those openings.

From the above detailed description, it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved housed draft gear of the inbuilt plunger type which, without change in over-all size or detriment to operating characteristics, eliminates the main sources of trouble in previous gears of the same type. It should be understood that the described and disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention and that all modifications are intended to be included which do not depart from either the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of said housing, and means carried by said plunger and engageable with means on said housing for limiting forward movement of said plunger relative to said housing, at least one of said means carried by said plunger being applicable thereto in the assembled position thereof in said housing.

2. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of said housing, and means carried by said plunger and normally spaced rearwardly of and engageable with means on said housing for limiting outward movement of said plunger relative to said housing, at least one of said means carried by said plunger being applicable thereto in the installed' position thereof in said housing.

3. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of said housing, stop lugs integral with and instanding from opposite longitudinal walls of said housing, and stop means fixed to said plunger and each laterally overlapping and normally spaced rearwardly of said retaining lugs, said lugs and stop means cooperating for holding said plunger in said housing, and at least one of said stop means being applicable to and removable from said plunger in the assembled position thereof in said housing.

4. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of said housing, retaining lugs fixed to and instanding from opposite longitudinal walls of said housing, abutments on said plunger and each normally spaced rearwardly of and confronting one of said lugs, at least one of said abutments terminating laterally in non-overlapping relation with an adjoining lug, and means removably fixed to said non-overlapping abutment and overlapping said adjoining lug for locking said plunger in said housing.

5. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of said housing, retaining lugs fixed to and instanding from opposite longitudinal walls of said housing, abutments on said plunger and each normally spaced rearwardly of and confronting one of said lugs, at least one of said abutments terminating laterally in non-overlapping relation with an adjoining lug, and a plate removably fixed to said nonoverlapping abutment and normally spaced rearwardly of and overlapping said adjoining lug for limited outward movement of said plunger relative to said housing.

6. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of and into said housing, lugs fixed to and instanding from opposite longitudinal walls of said housing and having inwardly and forwardly sloping rear faces, abutments on said plunger and each having a front face confronting and sloping in correspondence with and spaced rearwardly of one of said rear faces, at least one of said front faces being in non-overlapping relation with one of said rear faces, and plate means removably fixed to said nonoverlapping front face and normally spaced rearwardly of and overlapping the confronting rear face for limiting outward movement of said plunger relative to said housing.

7. In a draft gear having a housing, friction means in and frictionally engaging said housing, and spring means normally urging said friction means forwardly of said housing, the combination of a substantially box-shaped plunger extending into and normally projecting forwardly of said housing, a pair of retaining lugs instanding from opposite longitudinal walls of sai-d housing and each riding in a longitudinally extending slot in a confronting side of said plunger, at least one of said slots extending longitudinally through said plunger for passing the related lug on insertion and removal of said plunger, and means removably fixed to said plunger and normal- 1y blocking said last-named slot rearwardly of said related lug for Hunting outward movement of said plunger relative to said housing.

References Cited in the file 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,197,030 Clark Apr. 16, 1940 2,540,041 Blattner Jan. 30, l1 2,635,766 Willison Apr. 21, 1953 

